Bang (Warriors 126, Hornets 111)

It took some time for him to find his groove, but Stephen Curry looks like the human torch once again.

Finding himself well rested after his offensive explosion against the LA Clippers, and healthy again after a bout with a stomach bug forced him to miss a game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Stephen Curry picked up pretty much right where he left off. Once again, he was highly aggressive in hunting for his own shot, and once again, no matter the degree of difficulty or the range from which he was shooting, everything seemed to go in. Between Steph’s 39 points on 11-15 shooting from beyond the arc and Klay Thompson’s 29 points on 10-19 shooting overall, the Warriors annihilated the Charlotte Hornets 126-111.

One really has to marvel at Steph’s basketball superpowers. He nailed 6 threes in the first quarter, part of an opening Warriors flurry that basically ended the game after they outscored the Hornets 41-21. He racked up 8 assists to only 1 turnover, part of a very clean Dubs performance (at least until garbage time) that saw each starter have just one turnover. And most importantly, he played with the nonchalant flamboyance that characterized his MVP-winning campaigns of yesteryears and was noticeably absent until after the Christmas Day loss to the Cavaliers. Steph is at his finest when he just lets it rip, and as one of the greatest shooters to ever set foot on the court, he always has the green light to shoot. If I pulled up for a transition 3 from just past the Warriors logo at halfcourt, I’d find myself permanently benched regardless of the outcome. With Steph, that is a shot you absolutely want him to take, especially when he’s in rhythm and looking for a heatcheck, as so much of his game is predicated on the threat of scoring from anywhere. The two iconic Steph Gonna Steph moments from this game (for me at least) were the aforementioned 31-footer and his burial of Marvin Williams, which nearly caved the roof in at Oracle and caused the Dubs bench to collapse into hysterics.

The other warm surprise of this game, which wasn’t nearly as close as the final scoreline suggests, was the play of JaVale McGee, who was elevated into the starting lineup with Zaza Pachulia out with a shoulder injury for at least a week more. McGee responded with the kind of performance that should give Steve Kerr at least a little bit to think about. In 17 high quality minutes, he provided 9 points on 4-7 shooting, 4 rebounds, and 4 blocks. To be honest, JaVale isn’t quite close to the finished product on the defensive end of the floor; he has a slight tendency to wander away from his mark, and his desire to block every shot leaves him out of position to clean up on the glass (and often sailing away from the glass at high velocity). But the Warriors (in recent memory) have never had a center who can truly play above the rim and threaten an opponent with obliteration-by-dunk. In fact, the Warriors don’t have many players who qualify for the “jump out of the gym” accolade, KD excepted – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are all skilled players who are better athletes than you or I will ever be, but none of them are ever going to win a dunk competition. Andrew Bogut and Zaza Pachulia were and are mostly ground-bound, and Festus Ezeli could certainly leap but certainly couldn’t catch. McGee might be a slight question mark or wild card defensively, but heck, if he’s on the floor with General Draymond of the First All-Defense Battalion and Commanders Kevin Durant of the All-Length Forces and Klay Thompson of the All-In-Your-Face Division…does it really matter? Cause and effect is a tough puzzle to assess, especially when basketball is concerned, but did the Dubs’ elite three-point shooting unlock the game for JaVale inside, or vice versa? I hope Zaza gets well soon, but I am quite intrigued to see a few more games of Mad Max McGee finishing preposterous alley-oops and causing other teams migraines. In his postgame interview with Tim Roye, Stephen Curry was full of praise for McGee, and to see a player resigned to the scrap heap making an impact is always gratifying.

Other interesting and fun takeaways from the game:

Stephen Curry sat out the entire fourth quarter again, and Steve Kerr joked about how he “forgot he is coaching for records.” The more I think about last season, the more I realize just how much the pursuit of > 72 wins weighed on the Dubs. Without any regular season accolades to chase, I think this team stands a far better chance of (knock on wood) staying healthy, sharp, and fresh heading into the playoffs.

Steve Kerr also commented on the Warriors’ collective ball movement, especially in the first half. Some Curry heatchecks aside (and I’ll always let Curry have a heatcheck shot), I cannot really remember a single “forced” shot from any of the Splash Triplets. Klay Thompson in particular moved the ball better than I’ve ever recalled him doing, with him, Durant, and Curry all finishing with 8 assists and the team racking up 35 assists to 10 turnovers.

It is worth noting the Warriors won tonight without Shaun Livingston, David West, and Zaza Pachulia.

Damian Jones took the floor and got his first points in the NBA! Despite Patrick McCaw’s shooting struggles, surrounded by such quality coaching and mentors, I think the future is bright for both rookies.

Human victory cigar Anderson Varejao made an appearance in the third quarter of this game, which tells you all you need to know about how close the game was.

CSN played a montage of Jim Barnett + Marco Belinelli moments, and I found myself chuckling and rewinding the segment to show my parents. It also brought back to mind the days when the Warriors were the stars of the Summer League in Vegas, behind legendary performances from Belinelli and Anthony Morrow. How times have changed!

Messing with Jim Barnett must be in the air at Oracle, as Steph Curry briefly spooked Barnett on Warriors Postgame live before picking out another target: his father. Steve Kerr, this is part of what “Steph Gonna Steph” means.

The turnaround is short for the Warriors, as they voyage to LA to play the Clippers again tonight. As shorthanded as the Dubs are, with the way they are playing as a team, almost no one can stop them, especially not an equally-shorthanded Clippers squad. While the rest of the NBA’s elite has fallen off the pace to varying degrees (see: San Antonio, Cleveland), the Warriors have accelerated to hitherto unseen heights. The sky truly is the limit!

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When Javale gets the ball in the post with back to basket he is thriowing it out to a shooter, he is getting the ball going to the hoop and he is successful. I think this is a combination of him learning hes propensity for shaquin a fool moments on low post moves and the team limiting those opportunities for disaster by deftly avoiding aforementioned set of circumstances. Whichever of the two the case may be Mr. McGee has found a nice little niche, I hope they can figure out a way to keep him as I do not think his skills are easily translatable to another situation. His current success is based on budget, the collective BB IQ of teamates and Kerr’s very well thought out process of not letting Javale drown. Very good.

Side note: On paper the SA spurs are 10 games worse than they are in real life. I watched them play the other night and they are impressive given their parts sum of which are indicative clearly of ” Coach of the Year ” or should I say “System of the year” . Ginobli is old as the hills, Parker is a shadow of his old self, Green?, I saw them sans Pau, Leonard is all world and they have some scrap heap kids who are playing like beasts…..Simmons in particular.

I think and I hate to say this because because I find the guy to be a jack ass but the GM for the Houston Rockets deserves Executive of the year for hiring DAntoni and getting the Stretch 5 from I think it was Suns or Pelicans Ryan what’s his name from Cal. Can’t really give the coaching award to Dantoni as it is akin to giving a scorpion a prize for being a scorpian…it’s in his nature. Pop on the other hand is the best in the business.

rio kid

That was indeed impressive.

rio kid

Word

Sleepy

Andre was born the same year as LeBron. Just turned 33 — old but not that old!

Like LeBron, he seems to have the skill and savvy to at least partially offset his physical decline. Of course, where Andre clearly has diminished from his peak level in terms of both athleticism and production, LeBron, despite having logged an insane number of minutes over his career (nearing 50,000, reg. season plus playoffs, more than Bird, Magic or Jordan), still seems to be about 98%+ of his peak level.

That he’s still at that level while currently playing more minutes per game than anyone else in the league is remarkable (not to insane on Lue’s part).

Could be his great genes, could be his great diet and workout regime, could be, er, “better living through chemistry.” Most likely some combo. In any case, in the not too distant future, Father Time’s gonna have his day with the King.

Phan Boi

Shaq Looked Like He Really Wanted To Punch Charles Barkley In The Face:

Let’s see. . . . Barnes didn’t take 16, because he knew he’d get a ton more — getting 24. For the math-chalenged, he ended up getting 50 percent more at a place that loves him and, now, he’s moving them uphill. So, have at him, Bozo.

BTW, think Conley’s worth 31? He was in the same pool.

You are one, weird, hating Petunia, PM. Keep grinding those sharp teeth. And keep your asinine hate alive; we all need a good, morning chortle these days — and your predictably whiny petulance comes right on time.

adamsbiggestfan

Just talking back…DLee 2016-2017 is also an upgrade from DLee 2015, and he will tell you so himself. Mo and Harrison this year may well be upgrades from Mo and Harrison last year. And you’re right, Justin Holiday and Ognjen Kuzmic (for example) are champions. Of course, some of the front office moves are about what a player has already done (Kevin now, Andre in the past), some of them about hope for the future and we’ll see how it works out (drafts), some of them about what-can-we-get-for-this-money (Zaza, DWest). Then Kerr & Ko. (with long-timers Steph, Draymond, Andre) do their best with what the front office gives them (I’m talkin’ ’bout you, JaVale!!). Nice for us that their best is amazing.

adamsbiggestfan

When he’s good, he’s very very good…

Persian Kojak

Shaq is being incredibly over dramatic. I despise Barkley…but he was spot on with his criticism of James. I wish more current and former athletes would call out Lebron for routinely being passive aggressive and throwing teammates under the bus.

Marko47

For all David Lee fans out there, this can be a banner year. Absent injury or being benched, he should finish the season in the top 100 career rebounders!

That will put him with Dwight, Dirk, Pau, Chandler, Z-Bo, Pierce, and Al Jefferson – not to mention LeBron James. The only guys playing now within 1,000 RBs back are Love, DeAndre, Aldridge, and Carmelo (I’m not counting David West, Josh Smith, or Dalembert).

FYI, his 7,143 current RBs are well behind the 10K that marked Bill Laimbeer, David Robinson, or Ben Wallace (not to mention the 17K of Moses Malone and Kareem, the 21K of Russell, and the nearly 24K of WIlt). But – with luck- he could finish his career in the neighborhood of Webber, McAdoo, and Boozer…

adamsbiggestfan

Because the Paperclips are struggling, I infer that Doc isn’t much of a teacher. Do you think that’s true?

adamsbiggestfan

LOL Howard!

adamsbiggestfan

Mo just walking away like “Can’t touch that”

adamsbiggestfan

Man really knows how to inspire his team. Not.

adamsbiggestfan

Get in line, Shaq

Thurston Hunger

Except the lower half of the East could go through a sea change, would be interesting to save this thread and check on it at season’s end.

And the West 8th spot has a little Heisenberg to it as well.

craig.w

I think this game shows the usefulness of that stat.

Which is not much.

Persian Kojak

Love Pop! Great to see people in professional sports (where political/social thought is very much looked down upon) have the social consciousness and are not afraid to voice their opinion. Much love to guys like Pop, Kerr, Steve Van Gundy, etc…for being outspoken.

Thurston Hunger

Any chance the next post is titled “Whimper”

craig.w

Attack! Attack!

Moto-san’s was not a hateful post, simply pointing out that money was Barnes’ motivation, an objective which he achieved.

I assume attack mode is your go-to personality in the real world also. Very Trump-like.

jsl165

Good timing: Der Trumpster is now seeking a mix of (Christian) church and state — the guy still doesn’t get the First Amendment.

Also, Adam’s firm — John Keker’s, really — is one of the very best in the City. (Keker effectively repped Ollie North in Congress; anyone remember “I am not a potted plant”?) We’ll need a ton of cases like this. And fast.

Oh, and note, Der Trumpster now has his own Benghazi:

His first real, special forces foray — the Yemen disaster that killed a Seal 6 star, wounded six others, cost us a $70 million chopper, and obliterated a number of women and children caught in the crossfire — came a full, face down, cropper.

Obama approved the initial planning, but not the actual mission — he was concerned that the joint effort (Navy Seals and UAE special forces, who ran the communications) made little sense and that loss of control to the Emirates would greatly increase likelihood of leaks. Bingo! And, tho he upped non-manned operations at the end, he smartly passed on this boondoggle.

(BTW, perhaps the ultimate, sad irony here is the joint forces were immediately met by a totally ready defense comprised, perhaps exclusively, of trained, responsive Yemeni women. They pinned lur special forces down til we called in support Harriers — who then wiped out Yemeni women and chidren, including Al Akbar’s eight-year old daughter, with carpet missiles and bombs.)

Trump gave the go-ahead, not in the situation room a la Obama getting Osama, but almost casually over a fancy dinner in the White House — with Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner egging him on. Astounding!

We got full-on lunatics running things now. And they have absolutely no idea what they’re doing. (See, also, Trump hanging up on the Australian PM, threatening the Mexican President with military invasion, and having Bozo Flynn — a total goofball — put Iran ‘on notice’ . . . . of nothing, except what the derelect Spicer says: it means ‘we’re not going to do nothing.’

Let’s hope we all — and our children — make it out alive. But that may well depend on Republicans placing country above party — never a good bet these wearying days.

We’ve now added an important fourth: Indivisible. This is the group that caused Tom Cotton to lock his doors and hide from his own, scheduled constituents meeting. Such cowards, these Republican blowhards and enablers (along with their still-silent citizen supporters).

When do these people nut up and say NO?

Champs15

Clippers even with above par performance from everyone lost to warriors easily.

jsl165

Oh, craigie! Is there any hope for such a lazy thinker as you? Still smarting over being caught on your vast Constitutional ignorance, I surmise? Still unable to express a cogent thot?

Well, you just go ahead and keep jumping into the deep end. Chortles are needed these days.

dr_john

On paper, preseason projection (mine) was 66-67 wins for the Spurs. They are on pace for 64. Projection for the Dubs was 70-71, which is about exact currently.

Not all projections based on wp48 are this close, for sure. If all the Knicks parts summed absolutely perfectly in some utopian world I gave them a shot at going from 34 to 44 wins, but 36 is their pace.

rio kid

I think I underestimate the talent on that team. I’ve never been a big fan of Gasol or Aldridge for some reason.

…scotch

What I’d like to see going forward is New Guy Weber & McCaw on the floor at the same time…think they might wreak a little havoc on D? Kyrie doesn’t get off that Christmas shot if those two were trapping him…more arrows in Stevie’s quiver!

Marko47

craig.w – I’ve posted around forty of these; compiling it has raised my understanding of the team’s performance on defense during the entire game.

They don’t highlight Andre’s mid-air steal, or Klay’s dogged pursuit – anecdotal stuff I can spot during a game. But defense is something done by five players for the entire game, and that is what I can evaluate with these stats.

And that’s kind of what has been attractive about the offense these past few years, too.